Datin Wong Mew Choo (born 1 May 1983) is a Malaysian former badminton singles player.

Wong Mew Choo
黄妙珠
Personal information
CountryMalaysia
Born (1983-05-01) 1 May 1983 (age 40)
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Height1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight51 kg (112 lb; 8.0 st)
Years active2003–2011
Retired2011
HandednessRight
CoachMisbun Sidek
Women's singles
Highest ranking7 (30 October 2008)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Malaysia
Sudirman Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Guangzhou Mixed team
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Melbourne Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Delhi Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2006 Melbourne Women's singles
Silver medal – second place 2010 Delhi Women's singles
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Johor Bahru Women's singles
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2003 Vietnam Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2009 Vientiane Women's team
Silver medal – second place 2005 Manila Women's singles
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Manila Women's team
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Vientiane Women's singles
BWF profile
Wong Mew Choo
Traditional Chinese黃妙珠
Simplified Chinese黄妙珠

Career edit

She first came to prominence in the 2003 Southeast Asian Games badminton women's singles, where she won the gold medal, along the way beating Singapore's Li Li, then the reigning Commonwealth Games Champion.

2005 edit

She competed at the 2005 World Championships in Anaheim and reached the second round. She managed two quarterfinal appearances, in the Denmark Open and 2005 Asian Championships.

She managed to reach the semifinal of Indonesia Open, losing a tough encounter with Mia Audina. Later that year, she qualified again for the 2005 Southeast Asian Games women's singles badminton final, but had to settle for silver, losing to Adriyanti Firdasari of Indonesia.

2006 edit

In the XVIII Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she helped Malaysia clinch the gold medal in the mixed team event, taking the crucial point against England's Tracey Hallam that gave Malaysia the lead 2–1. Eventually the team won 3–1 over England for the first time in Games history. However, Hallam exacted revenge in the women's singles final.

In the World Championships, she reached the third round before losing to Zhang Ning.

Her best achievement of the year was in the Korea Open semifinals, losing to eventual winner Zhu Lin. She also reached the China Open quarterfinals.

2007 edit

The year 2007 was Wong's best year. She started by reaching the finals of the Malaysia Superseries, defeating big names like Pi Hongyan and Xu Huaiwen on her way. At the All England Superseries, she beat Chinese Lu Lan to become the first Malaysian women's singles player to qualify to the women's singles quarterfinal. Lu claimed revenge in the 2007 Asian Championships.

Her biggest win was at the 2007 BWF World Championships third round, where she shocked China's Xie Xingfang in straight sets to become the first Malaysian women's singles player to reach the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur. However, her progress was stopped by Zhu Lin, who went on to take the title.

She was beaten in the first round of the Denmark Superseries, but quickly rebounded a week later, at the French Superseries. Wong defeated higher ranked players like Wang Chen. However, Wong lost to Xie Xingfang in the semifinal.

Wong, who was unseeded at the China Open Superseries and had not won any major championship since the 2003 Southeast Asian Games, delivered a brilliant performance in Guangzhou, China by beating all the top three female shuttlers from China in succession, starting with world champion Zhu Lin, two-time Olympic Champion Zhang Ning, and finally world number one Xie Xingfang in three sets in the final. She became the one of only a few non-Chinese (overseas Chinese) winners of the China Open. She also became the first Malaysian woman to lift an international title outside the country.

2008 edit

Wong started the year by reaching the semifinal of Malaysia Superseries before losing to Zhu Lin once again.

She played in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, becoming the quarter-finalist after her defeat from Lu Lan of China.

2009 edit

After getting injured at the beginning of this season, Wong returned in Swiss Open Superseries and India Open. But her achievements were not yet satisfactory.

She was also chosen as the Malaysia's top women's singles player to play in Sudirman Cup. In the semi-finals, her team lost 0–3 to China.

In the China Open Superseries in November, Wong beat China's Wang Yihan, the world number one, in two sets, 21–18 and 21–17. However, she was beaten by Wang's compatriot Wang Shixian in the quarter-finals.

In December, Wong clinched her first title of the year in World Superseries Masters Finals - downing Juliane Schenk, 21–15, 21–7. Many top players did not play in women's singles of Superseries Finals, allowing Wong, who was ranked 20th in Superseries rankings at that time, to participate.

Wong led Malaysia women's team in 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos. She and her teammates won the gold medal by beating Indonesia 3–1. However, Wong failed to reach individual final as she was defeated by Thailand's Salakjit Ponsana 18–21, 14–21. As a result, Wong only claimed bronze.

In 2010 Commonwealth Games, Delhi, she won silver in a closely contested final with Saina Nehwal of India, ranked No 3 in the world.

2011 edit

In April, Wong retired from competition, citing injuries that had taken a toll on her body.[1] Due to her experience and service to the national team, BJSS offered her a coaching contract to become one of the women coaches.[2]

Achievements edit

Commonwealth Games edit

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2006 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia   Tracey Hallam 12–21, 15–21   Silver
2010 Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi, India   Saina Nehwal 21–19, 21–23, 13–21   Silver

Asian Championships edit

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2007 Stadium Bandaraya, Johor Bahru, Malaysia   Lu Lan 17–21, 18–21   Bronze

Southeast Asian Games edit

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2003 Tan Binh Sport Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam   Salakjit Ponsana 11–5, 11–5   Gold
2005 PhilSports Arena, Metro Manila, Philippines   Adriyanti Firdasari 8–11, 7–11   Silver
2009 Gym Hall 1, National Sports Complex, Vientiane, Laos   Salakjit Ponsana 18–21, 14–21   Bronze

BWF Superseries edit

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[3] is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011,[4] with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2007 Malaysia Open   Zhu Lin 15–21, 12–21   Runner-up
2007 China Open   Xie Xingfang 21–16, 8–21, 21–17   Winner
2009 World Superseries Masters Finals   Juliane Schenk 21–15, 21–7   Winner
  BWF Superseries Finals tournament
  BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix edit

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels: Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983.

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2010 India Open   Saina Nehwal 22–20, 14–21, 12–21   Runner-up

Career Overview edit

Year Tournament Achievement
2011 All England Super Series First round
German Grand Prix Gold Semi-finalist
Victor Korea Super Series Premier Second round
Proton Malaysia Super Series First round
2010 2010 Commonwealth Games Runner-Up
2010 Commonwealth Games – Mixed team Winner
2009 BWF Super Series Masters Finals Winner
Malaysia Grand Prix Gold Semi-finalist
Djarum Indonesia Super Series First round
Aviva Singapore Super Series First round
2008
Aviva Singapore Super Series Semi-finalist
Swiss Open Super Series Second round
All England Super Series Quarter-finalist
Korea Super Series First round
Proton Malaysia Super Series Semi-finalist
2007
Hong Kong Super Series First round
China Open Super Series Winner
French Super Series Semi-finalist
Denmark Super Series First round
Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold Quarter-finalist
Japan Super Series Second round
BWF World Championships Quarter-finalist
China Masters Super Series First round
Djarum Indonesia Super Series First round
Singapore Super Series Second round
2007 Asian Badminton Championships Semi-finalist
Swiss Super Series First round
Yonex All England Super Series Quarter-finalist
Proton Malaysia Super Series Runner-Up
2006
China Open Quarter-finalist
Japan Open First round
IBF World Championships Second round
Hong Kong Open Second round
Korea Open Second round
Thailand Open Second round
Djarum Indonesia Open First round
2006 Asian Badminton Championships First round
XVIII Commonwealth Games Runner-Up
Yonex All England Open Second round
Swiss Open Second round
2005
Denmark Open Quarter-finalist
Indonesia Open Semi-finalist
2005 Asian Badminton Championships Quarter-finalist
XXIII Southeast Asian Games Runner-Up
2004
2004 Asian Badminton Championships Quarter-finalist
Japan Open First round
Korea Open Second round
Yonex All England Open Second round
Swiss Open First round
Syed Modi Memorials Runner-Up
Thailand Open Second round
2003 XXII Southeast Asian Games Winner

Record against selected opponents edit

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.

Personal life edit

She has an elder sister, Wong Miew Kheng who was a former Malaysian national badminton player. She also dated the Malaysian badminton star Lee Chong Wei. The duo were planning to settle down after 11 years of courtship, after the London Olympics.[5]

In year 2009, Lee and Wong announced they are no longer together during the 2009 World Championships in Hyderabad, India. However, Lee Chong Wei announced his reconciliation with Mew Choo after winning a silver medal in 2012 London Olympics.[6] They met in 2001 at a public badminton camp when they were both back-up shuttlers for the Malaysian crew. They got married on 9 November 2012. The couple had their first child, Kingston on 12 April 2013 and their second child, Terrance on 9 July 2015.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ "Misbun makes an about turn, returns to BAM". Bernama. Daily Express. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  2. ^ Rajes Paul (13 May 2011). "Teik Chai-Bin Shen out of world meet despite making the cut". The Star. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  3. ^ "BWF Launches Super Series". Badminton Australia. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.
  4. ^ "Yonex All England Elevated To BWF Premier Super Series Event". www.ibadmintonstore.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Wedding bells for Chong Wei". The Star. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Shuttler courts question marks over marriage date". The Star. 8 August 2012. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. ^ Rajes Paul (9 July 2015). "Chong Wei at ease after birth of second son (updated)". The Star. Retrieved 12 July 2018.